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Kohli's fighting century keeps India in hunt

July 6, 2013
Virat-Kohli

Trinidad, Jul 6: Skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with a responsible century-knock as India bounced back in the race for the tri-series final with a dominating 102-run win over the West Indies in a crucial rain-hit match, here on Friday.
Batting with a lot of grit and gumption, Kohli anchored India to a challenging 311 for seven after his side was in a spot of bother, having lost five established batsmen at a score of 210 in 40 overs.
Openers Shikhar Dhawan (69) and Rohit Sharma (46) had laid a strong foundation with their 123-run stand and Kohli (102) ensured that their hard work does not go waste as he made up for the failure of the middle-order with his gritty 14th One-Day century.
Pacer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar rattled the West Indies chase with wickets of Chris Gayle and Darren Barvo, and rain gods only made the the job tougher for the hosts as their target was revised to 274 from 39 overs after a two-hour rain delay.
West Indies had a daunting task of scoring a further 218 runs from 29 overs after resuming at 56 for two in 10 overs. India, desperately requiring a win to remain in the hunt for a berth in the final, bowled out the hosts for 171 in 34 to walk away with a bonus point.
India's victory meant that the tournament is open with all three teams having a chance to qualify for the final. West Indies next play Sri Lanka on Sunday and then India face Sri Lanka on Tuesday in the last league match.
West Indies batsmen succumbed to pressure after resumption of play and lost wickets in a heap. Stage was set for Indian pacers and Kumar (3/29) and Ishant Sharma in no time had knocked off half of the West Indies' batting line up.
Sharma had Marlon Samules (6) caught and removed set opener Johnson Charles (45) while Kumar added wicket of dangerous Kieron Pollard, who could not even open his account.
Umesh Yadav (3/32) joined the party by scalping Denesh Ramdin (9) and rival skipper Dwayne Bravo (14) to leave West Indies reeling at 108 for six. Earlier, Kohli got out in the last ball of the innings as he nullified the success of West Indies fast bowlers, who had put the hosts in an good position with regular strikes.
Kohli faced 83 balls in his innings and punished the Caribbean bowlers with 13 fours and two sixes.
After 40 overs, India had 210 runs on the board and only Kohli to bat with tail-enders as pace duo of Kemar Roach and Tino Best had polished off the Indian middle-order.
Kohli responded to the challenge in the best possible manner as India scored 101 runs in the last 10 overs and his contribution was 67 runs. R Ashwin supported Kohli well with his 18-ball 25 as they shared a 90-run stand for the seventh wicket in 8.2 overs.
Earlier after sent in to bat, Dhawan and Sharma provided a solid start to India with 123-run stand, which was broken when the left-hander chose to play aggressively after spending a watchful 23 overs at the crease.
Coming into the make-or-break match, both the Indian openers batted with a lot of responsibility. They chose caution over aggression, relying on rotation of the strike and hitting an odd boundary in between.
Dhawan, who by nature is a stroke-maker, kept his natural urge to go for strokes under control till India had safely negotiated almost half-the-overs. The left-hander opened up after India had crossed 100-run mark. He chose local lad and highly-rated spinner Sunil Narine for some punishment, hitting him for two sixes and a four.
However, Dhawan could not continue in the same vain, as he holed out to Darren Barvo at deep square leg when he attempted to hit one off Kemar Roach over the ropes. His knock came off 77 balls and contained eight fours and two sixes.
Sharma too joined him in the pavillion when he edged one behind off Tino Best. In space of seven overs India lost Suresh Raina (10), Dinesh Karthik (6) and Murali Vijay (27).
Ravindra Jadeja's run out made things worse for India but Kohli pulled India out of trouble.

Scoreboard:
India:
R Sharma c Ramdin b Best 46
S Dhawan c D Bravo b Roach 69
V Kohli c Sammy b D Bravo 102
S Raina c Sammy b Samuels 10
D Karthik c Ramdin b Best 6
M Vijay c Charles b Pollard 27
R Jadeja run out 2
R Ashwin not out 25
Extras (B-4, LB-7, WD-13) 24
Total (For 7 wickets in 50 overs) 311

Fall of wickets: 1-123, 2-141, 3-156, 4-168, 5-210, 6-221, 7-311.

Bowling: D Sammy 8-1-28-0, K Roach 10-2-69-1, T Best 10-0-51-2, D Bravo 7-0-57-1, S Narine 5-1-35-0, M Samuels 8-0-39-1, K Pollard 2-0-21-1.

West Indies: (target: 274 runs from 39 overs)

C Gayle c Karthik b Kumar 10
J Charles c Raina b Sharma 45
D Bravo c Ashwin b Kumar 1
M Samuels c Karthik b Sharma 6
K Pollard c Ashwin b Kumar 0
D Bravo lbw b Yadav 14
D Ramdin c Kumar b Yadav 9
D Sammy lbw b Yadav 12
K Roach b Jadeja 34
S Narine c Sharma b Jadeja 21
T Best not out 0
Extras (B-1, LB-10, WD-8) 19
Total (all out in 34 overs) 171

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-25, 3-64, 4-65, 5-69, 6-91, 7-108, 8-113, 9-171.
Bowling: B Kumar 8-1-29-3, U Yadav 8-1-32-3, I Sharma 7-1-30-2, R Jadeja 7-1-44-2, R Ashwin 4-0-25-0.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi Jul 30: After Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal's ban was reduced to 18 months, Danish Kaneria criticised Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) policies and said that the 'zero tolerance policy' applies only to him.

"Zero Tolerance policy only apply on Danish Kaneria not on others, can anybody answer the reason why I get life ban not others, Are policy applies only on cast, colour, and powerful background. I am Hindu and proud of it that's my background and my dharma," Kaneria tweeted.

Earlier on Wednesday, Akmal's three-year suspension was reduced to 18 months by an independent adjudicator, former Pakistan Supreme Court judge, Faqir Mohammad Khokhar.

On April 27, the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel, Justice (retd) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, had banned the wicketkeeper-batsman for three years after finding him guilty of breaching the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code in two separate incidents.

Akmal, on May 19, filed an appeal against the three-year ban imposed on him, seeking a reduction in the duration of the sanction. He will remain suspended effectively from February 2020 till August 2021.

The batsman said he might appeal again to get the ban "reduced further".

"I am thankful to the judge for listening to my lawyers properly. I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further. For now I am not satisfied and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead," ESPNcricinfo had quoted Akmal as saying.

"There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got. So all I say right now is thank you very much," he had added.

On the other hand, Kaneria was found guilty of spot-fixing while playing for English club Essex and was banned from the sport.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's cricket governing body 'advised' Kaneria to approach England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) if he wants to play domestic cricket after the cricketer had appealed to the PCB, seeking permission to play domestic cricket. 

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News Network
March 6,2020

Melbourne, Mar 6: Experienced middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy believes that "destiny" is in favour of first-time finalist India to win their maiden ICC Women's T20 World Cup title provided they get a grip on their nerves in the summit clash against Australia on Sunday.

India will have a psychological advantage going into the final as they had stunned the defending champions by 17 runs in the tournament opener.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached the final on the basis of their unbeaten record in the tournament after their semifinal against England was washed out on Thursday.

Krishnamurthy, who was a part of the Indian team that finished runner-up to England in the 2017 Women's ODI World Cup, knows the pain of missing out on a world title.

"It's all about destiny, and I'm a big believer in destiny. I feel like this is the way it was meant to be. There is a joke going around that this World Cup is made in such a way that it's helping us, starting from the wickets to everything else," she was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.

"Being in the final is just reward for the way we played in the group stages. There was an advantage to having won all our games with the weather not in our hands."

The team's first target of reaching the final having achieved, the 27-year-old player said the Indians now need to hold their nerves and remain focussed leading up to the big day on Sunday.

"We said the first aim was to get to the final and take it from there. We've crossed the first stage. We need to make sure we hold our nerves and we do what we need to do on the final day," she said.

India's recent rivalry with Australia has taken fascinating twists and turns, with Kaur's outfit chasing down 173 in their recent tri-series, then getting home by 17 runs in the T20 World Cup opener.

But all is not hunky-dory for Krishnamurthy on the personal front. Considered a great finisher, she has recovered from a series of single-digit scores in the tri-series to score 20 from 11 balls in a finishing role against Bangladesh.

Having amassed just 35 runs from four matches in the tournament so far, the Karnataka batter knows her role in the team.

"As an individual, the role given to me is very consistent in the last year. They've put the effort in the last year to keep me there and I've been supported by every individual, not just one or two. The entire team, with all the support staff, have shown faith in me," she said.

"I know coming into the World Cup, I would play a crucial role to finish the innings well, which I felt I was unable to do in the last World Cup in the West Indies," she added.

Krishnamurthy said specific roles have been set for every player of the squad and they all are trying to contribute as much as they can to help the team achieve its goal.

"I was very motivated to do my role and I've been working on that. It's not just me, all 15 players involved know what their role is," she said.

"I'm happy we're all putting in efforts and executing our role properly. Even if it's a smallish contribution of saving a couple of runs, it's all panned out really well."

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News Network
January 19,2020

Rome, Jan 19: India's star wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya kicked off the Olympic year in style, winning a gold medal each in their respective weight categories at the Rome Ranking Series here.

The 25-year-old Bajrang staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 4-3 win against USA's Jordan Michael Oliver in the summit showdown of the 65kg freestyle category.

Ravi, who competed in the 61kg category instead of his regular 57kg, also bagged gold after getting the better of Kazakhstan's Nurbolat Abdualiyev 12-2 in his final bout late on Saturday night.

The 23-year-old from Sonepat had made the final round after securing impressive wins over Moldova's Alexaandru Chirtoaca and Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev.

Up against one of India's biggest medal prospects in the Tokyo Olympics, Oliver conceded that it was not his night against Bajrang.

The American lauded the competitive spirit of Bajrang.

"Wasn't my night… but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend," the American tweeted.

Bajrang had to sweat it out in the first round against Zain Allen Retherford of the USA before prevailing 5-4.

In the quarterfinal, the ace Indian wrestler went past another American Joseph Christopher Mc Kenna 4-2, before getting the better of Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine 6-4 in the semi-finals.

However, it was curtains for Jitender in the 74kg and world championship silver medallist Deepak Punia in the 86kg category.

Jitender won his first bout against Denys Pavlov of Ukraine 10-1 before going down in the quarterfinals against Turkey's Soner Demirtas 4-0.

Jitender got a chance to fight in the repechage after Demirtas entered the final, but the Indian wasted the opportunity, losing 2-9 to Daniyar Kaisanov of Kazakhstan.

In the 86kg category, Deepak crashed out in the opening round, losing 1-11 to Ethan Adrian Ramos of Puerto Rico.

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